Marvel Studios is deep in development on its long-awaited X-Men relaunch, and now according to a new rumor, Frankenstein actor Jacob Elordi might be on Marvel’s shortlist for the upcoming X-Men reboot.
The rumor comes from insider account @MyTimeToShineH, who claims, “Jacob Elordi is also very high on Marvel’s list for an X-Men role.” That’s the entirety of it. No character name. No deal in place. Just that he’s apparently on a list.
Being on a list doesn’t mean he’s signing on the dotted line, qnd if we’re being honest, Elordi doesn’t necessarily scream “future franchise regular.” His recent career choices suggest he’s leaning toward prestige projects rather than locking himself into a decade-long superhero contract.
Still, timing is everything. Marvel’s mutant era is fast approaching.
Post Avengers: Secret Wars, the X-Men are expected to become one of the MCU’s central pillars. Marvel Studios only regained the rights to the characters in 2019, so weaving them organically into the existing universe has been a slow burn.
The future MCU lineup is going to be crazy to see. The Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, The New Avengers, and Spider-Man, all sharing the same sandbox. That’s the kind of crossover playground fans can get hyped about!
Even though the Fox-era team will pop up again in Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel is already building its own version from scratch. Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier is attached to helm X-Men, with Michael Lesslie, who wrote The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, writing the script.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has made it clear that this won’t just be a rehash of what came before.
“There’ve been more X-Men movies than there were Spidey movies or Fantastic Four movies, so a lot has been done. But again, because it’s because it’s almost a comic legacy onto itself.
“There’s so much more to tap into it and there’s so many sagas within sagas for X-Men that that’s part of what we’re talking about now is which saga to grow and build to while doing the most important thing, which is introducing all of these characters and giving them their due in our first film.”
He continued, “I’m not going to speak to the makeup of the characters that will be in the first movie, but look at Galactus, look at Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine, look at Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine. We want to embrace that which was not embraced 25 years ago when I was around on those early X-Men movies, which is those comic-accurate looks.”
So where does Elordi fit in? The 28-year-old actor first broke out with Netflix’s The Kissing Booth and HBO’s Euphoria before pivoting into more serious fare like Priscilla and Saltburn.
Most recently, he appeared in Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, the latter earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
He’s not too old to play a core team member, but there’s an argument to be made that he’d make an even more interesting Mister Sinister. With his height, presence, the slightly unnerving intensity. It’s there.
This X-Men rumor also follows recent speculation that Elordi was being eyed as the next James Bond. Those claims turned out to be bogus. Considering he’s Australian and Amazon MGM Studios is developing a new 007 film with Denis Villeneuve, odds are they’ll be casting a British actor for Bond.
For now, this is just a rumor, and until Marvel makes it official, Elordi’s involvement is purely speculative. It’s also a long shot.
If he did enter the MCU, who would you want him to play?
